


Three Days

by Selenay



Series: Three Days and One Year [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Dubious Consent, F/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-10-15
Updated: 1999-10-15
Packaged: 2017-12-15 00:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/843285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenay/pseuds/Selenay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buffy and Giles wake up in a . . . compromising position. How did they get there? Do they really want to leave?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, I'm in England so I'm trying to ignore that I know what happens in season 4. Therefore this is in my usual post-graduation setting. Giles has a large house near the college (don't ask me how, I'm a concept girl, not practical) and Buffy, Willow and Xander lodge with him.

Buffy felt warm, relaxed and safe. She could not decide if she was awake or sleeping, and for the moment she could not care less. She felt very good.

As she woke up a little she was aware of a hand rubbing gentle circles on her stomach, sending pleasant flutters through her. She could feel something warm pressed up against her back and snuggled against it. Gradually she came out of her pleasant haze and a few, slightly more disturbing things occurred to her. She could feel warm, moist air blowing across her neck.  _That's not right_  she thought vaguely.  _Nice, but why is it there?_

The hand on her stomach began moving slightly higher.  _Why is someone rubbing my stomach? Why is it bare? For that matter, why am I naked?_  she thought, only just noticing. Then she realised what the warm thing behind her was. Her eyes shot open and she did not dare move.  _Oh my god. I'm in bed with a man and I don't know who. Or why. Or where. Oh my god._

She desperately searched her memory but could not find anything there to explain circumstances.

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

The hand reached her breast, and for a moment Buffy could not move.  _Feels good,_  she thought insanely, sure there was a reason she was not feeling repulsed by what was happening. Then reason took over and in one move she sat up and scrambled to the other side of the bed. For a moment she sat there panting, then she grabbed the edge of the sheet and pulled it up to cover herself. Only then did she dare to look at the man she was sharing a bed with.

_Oh my god._  was her last thought before her brain went into temporary protective shut-down.

***

Buffy's mad scramble across the bed woke Giles up rather suddenly.  _Where am I? Why am I here? Why is Buffy in my bed? Why is she naked? Why am I naked? Why can't I remember?!_

The thoughts racing through his head came to an abrupt halt.  _I'm in bed with Buffy, and I can't remember why. Bloody hell._  He almost laughed at the sheer absurdity of the situation.  _I've fantasised about waking up with her for so long, and now I can't even remember any of it!_

As his brain restarted his thoughts became more rational. Buffy was still staring at him, looking totally shocked and bewildered. Giles was trying to find some memory that would tell him what had happened, but nothing was there. The imprint of Buffy's head on the pillow next to him gave him a good idea of what woke him up, and an equally good idea of why certain parts of his body were totally aroused, but the rest was a complete blank. He closed his eyes, hoping that maybe this was a dream.

Buffy shook herself out of her daze and shakily asked, "Giles, what's going on?"

Giles opened his eyes and sat up, keeping his section of the sheet carefully position. "I wish to god I knew."

"Oh. I was kinda hoping maybe you knew what happened."

"I th-think what happened is fairly . . . obvious." Giles gave her a significant look.

"Oh," Buffy said again, blushing heavily.

"Y-you have no, uh, memory?"

Buffy shook her head, too embarrassed to speak.  _Oh my god. Giles . . . and I . . . oh my god._

"Damn." Giles said with feeling. He could feel himself starting to redden as well, both from embarrassment at having no memory of what had obviously happened, and because seeing Buffy . . . like this, was not helping his body to calm down.  _Bloody hell._

For a long moment they sat there, neither daring to meet the other's eyes. Eventually Giles broke the silence, saying, "W-we appear to be i-in a hotel."

"Uh-huh."

More silence.

"I-I think the, uh, thing to do is get dressed and try to work out what . . . well, what happened."

"Good plan." Buffy looked at him. "You first."

"M-me?"

"I'm sort of, uh, naked here."

All the blood in Giles' body went south, and he really wished she had not reminded him of that.

"And I'm not?" he said without thinking, then cursed inwardly at his distraction.

If it was possible Buffy went even redder. She was very aware that he was naked; after all she had been pressed against him when she woke up.  _Don't go there,_  she told herself firmly.  _It's, oh god, it's . . . actually not that gross. In fact it's - eep! - turning me on? Uh-uh. No way. Giles? Oh my god. What am I thinking?_

Giles' sigh interrupted her thoughts. "Close your eyes," he told her.

"Wh - oh."

Buffy quickly closed her eyes as he began to slide out of the bed. She heard a rustle as he picked up something, and then heard him pad across the room towards the bathroom. At the last moment she could not resist and peeked.  _Oh god. I'm in trouble._


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Buffy heard the shower in the bathroom start she got out of the bed and put on a white terry robe she found discarded on the floor. The beautifully stitched embroidery on the pocket said 'Hers', and she decided she was not going to think about the implications of that. Then she sank down on the bed again, and immediately jumped up again to pace.

This is not happening. It can't be happening. I would never . . . and he certainly would never . . . because that's not what we do. We're Buffy and Giles. We don't do this. It's . . . wrong, and-and wrong. The memory of his fingers on her skin earlier returned and she groaned in frustration. That's not meant to feel so good! I mean, we're Buffy and Giles! If only I could remember.

Stopping, Buffy slowly began to survey the room, hoping she would find a clue to explain everything. The hotel room was actually closer to a suite, with a sitting area in addition to the bed. It was all very elegant and beautiful, evidently not a cheap hotel. The burgundy carpet was soft and thick, and the upholstery on the sofa and chairs in the sitting area complemented it. The bed itself was huge but simple, with a brass headboard and tasteful while cotton sheets. Clothes were casually draped over furniture, and an empty wine bottle sat on the dresser. Maybe we were drunk? No, doesn't work. I'd have a hangover if we got so drunk we can't remember . . . what we did.

Buffy sat down on the small sofa (after moving a pair of pants to the floor beside it) and tried to reconstruct what she could remember. I know I got up. Willow made me. I got dressed, went downstairs and had some breakfast. Xander was making dumb jokes about something, and Oz called to walk Willow to college. As she ran through the morning, more things began to surface. I felt ill. Like I wanted to be sick, so I asked Willow to get my assignments and went back to bed. Then . . . nothing.

But it's morning again, Buffy thought, noticing the quality of the light shining through the window for the first time. She found a clock on the bedside table, and found that it was nine o'clock in the morning. A few things clicked into place as she realised that they had lost at least a day.

The hotel had kindly provided them with a TV, so she turned it on and found a news channel. Eleventh December. Last I remember, it was the eighth. We've lost three days. Oh my god.

***

Giles emerged from the bathroom to find Buffy staring blankly at the TV. He switched if off and went to sit beside her on the sofa.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently, then cursed himself as he realised the stupidity of what he had asked.

Buffy began laughing hysterically. "You . . . ask me . . . what's wrong?" she managed. "We've . . . and I don't remember . . . and, and we're . . . and we've lost three days."

As suddenly as she had begun laughing, Buffy burst into tears. Giles wrapped his arms around her and held her tight while she sobbed. His thoughts were whirling so fast he could not make any sense of them but her words, 'we've lost three days' kept echoing through them.

As Buffy calmed down she pulled back slightly. Giles released her, and they both became aware of their situation. They were sitting so close he could smell the shampoo she used, and he was uncomfortably aware that they were both only wearing bathrobes.

"Buffy, I-"

The events of the morning became too much for Buffy again, and she fled to the bathroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Giles paced while he waited for Buffy to finish in the bathroom. She had just turned on the shower and he sensed she would be in there for a while.  _Three days. How did we lose three days? And what did we do?_  Images suddenly came to him, and he firmly clamped down on those thoughts.  _Three days. I need to research._

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Room service!"

It took him a moment but he managed to find his coat and get a cross ( _At least we weren't that far gone,_  he thought) and cautiously opened the door.

A man dressed in hotel livery came in, pushing a cart with covered dishes on it.

"Did you sleep well Mr Giles?" the man asked as he bustled around, removing covers from dishes and carefully setting them out on the coffee table.

"Yes, I-"

"Good. I hope you and your wife had a pleasant stay," the man winked suggestively and carried on, oblivious to Giles' confusion. "Your bill can be settled at the desk. And may I say again, congratulations."

He bustled out again and carefully shut the door behind him.

The trolley he had used to carry the food was still sitting in a corner of the room, so Giles decided to investigate it to see if there were any more clues. All that was there was a bill with the breakfast order written on it. It was charged to the Honeymoon suite at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Something glinted on the hand holding the bill.  _Bloody hell,_  Giles thought as he realised what it was.

On the ring finger of his left hand was a simple gold band.

***

Buffy opened the door of the bathroom and peeked out to see Giles standing in the middle of the room staring at his hand. He appeared to be muttering, and he periodically opened and closed his eyes as though hoping that whatever he could see would go away.  _Oh no. It's hit him. He's lost it,_  she thought.

"Giles?"

He carried on staring at his hand, seeming not to have heard her.  _This is bad. Everything that's happened over the years has finally hit him, and he's lost it. My Watcher - **Ex** -Watcher has lost it. Not good._ She was not sure why the distinction mattered so much.

Walking over to him, Buffy could see his eyes were glazed and guessed he had gone into shock. She gently led him to the sofa and made him sit down. The action seemed to shake him out of his shock and he grabbed her left hand. On the ring finger was a matching gold band.

"Bloody hell," he whispered.

"Giles? What's wrong?" Buffy asked, searching his face.

She slowly lowered her head until she was looking at their hands. The gold rings seemed to glow as their significance dawned on her. "We didn't . . .? We couldn't . . . there are . . . what about the blood tests!" she cried irrationally.

"W-we appear to be in Las Vegas. I doubt we needed them."

"But-but, there's got to be a but! How did we get here?"

"Buffy, I can't remember us getting married or having sex. If I can't remember that, do you honestly think I can remember how we got to Las Vegas?"

Somehow Giles finally saying it made it all sink in for Buffy. She still tried to deny it though. "Maybe we didn't get married. Maybe we're just putting it on to get rooms in this place."

A thorough search of the room, however, produced an authentic looking marriage certificate, two return plane tickets to Las Vegas, a receipt for a chapel and a picture of them standing in front of a building with a sign that said 'Chapel of Love'.

"We're married. Husband and wife." Buffy said after a while.

"I noticed."

"I guess we should call home. Let everyone know we're . . . well, not ok, but safe."

"That would be an idea."

While Buffy made the call, Giles found his clothes and went back into the bathroom. Xander answered the phone.

"Xander?" Buffy asked, the familiar voice almost starting her crying again.

"Buffy? Or should that be Mrs Giles now?"

Buffy's heart sank. "You know?"

"Of course we know. That was the purpose of your message."

"Message?" Buffy asked faintly.

"You know, note stuck on fridge, 'Guys, we've gone to Vegas to get married, back Sunday, Buffy and Giles,'" he elaborated.

"We left a note?"

"Yeah. And a message on the answer machine. Buff, are you ok?"

Buffy gave a brief, mirthless laugh. "Oh, yeah, fine. I just don't remember going to Vegas, getting married or anything else about the past three days."

"How did . . .? That's bad."

"Thanks for stating the obvious. Look, tell Willow we're ok and catching the first flight back. As soon as I find my clothes."

"There's a visual I didn't need."

"Bye Xander."

"B-" Buffy hung up the phone.

She felt Giles' hand on her shoulder and looked up into his concerned face.

"The bathroom's free. Go and get dressed and I'll call the airport."

She briefly leaned her cheek against his hand, then got up to sort out her clothes. The top she had evidently been wearing was badly torn, a fact she was not going to think about too deeply, so she had to borrow Giles' sweater. By the time she was dressed he had managed to book them on a flight home and ordered a taxi to the airport. They went down to reception and sorted out the bill, trying to ignore the grins and winks they were given, and then set off home.


	4. Chapter 4

They barely spoke in the taxi to the airport. It was the uncomfortable silence of two people who have no idea of what to say to each other, and are afraid to say anything for fear of making things worse. On the aeroplane it was the same, and they both sat there with their eyes closed, trying to think everything through.

Towards the end of the flight Buffy fell asleep, the emotional upheaval of the past few hours catching up to her. For a moment, when the stewardess woke her as they began their descent, she was completely disoriented. She knew she had been dreaming, but could only remember flashes of Giles talking to her and giving her a slightly dangerous grin. The one thing she did know was that she felt a brief pang of disappointment that she had not finished the dream.

As they descended Giles took her hand and squeezed it lightly, comfortingly and Buffy immediately felt better.  _Maybe I'll survive this after all,_  she thought.

 

Giles' thoughts were not too dissimilar.  _She isn't blaming me yet, which is one small mercy. As long as she doesn't hate me for what happened, whatever we find out, I think I'll survive this._

***

The taxi ride from the airport was strained, both of them trying to prepare for whatever their friends were going to say to them.

As they reached the town limits Buffy finally looked at him and asked, "Do you think they'll be mad at us?"

"I-I really don't know," Giles answered honestly. "On the one hand, we left them a n-note saying we were off to Las Vegas to get m-married, on the other we were evidently not ourselves at the time."

"Are you saying that now you're yourself you wouldn't marry me?" For some reason Buffy felt mildly offended at that.

"N-no, or, uh . . . not . . . it's not that . . ." Giles stuttered to a halt, face red, and wishing there was a way to answer that would not get him into a lot of trouble.

Thankfully the taxi driver chose that moment to stop and ask for his money, saving Giles from the possibly dangerous conversation.

The taxi deposited them outside the house, and for a long moment all they could do was stand and stare at it.

"We could just go back to Vegas," Buffy suggested eventually.

She immediately decided that was the wrong thing to say when Giles looked as though he was about to have a heart-attack.

"Sorry," she grinned. "Shall we?"

Giles almost answered 'If we must', but knew that was just being silly. Instead he got out his key and opened the door.

Willow and Xander must have been waiting for them because they appeared in the doorway of the living room as soon as the door opened. Any fears that Buffy had about her friends' reaction was relieved when her "Hi guys," was met with a hug from Willow. To her embarrassment she began crying again as soon as she felt her friend's arms around her. She was not aware of Giles and Xander going into the living room and closing the door behind them to give them some privacy. She just clung the familiarity of her best friend and sobbed. Eventually she began to calm down and Willow led her upstairs.

"I'm turning into a tea-spout," Buffy said wryly, hiccuping a little in the aftermath of her crying fit.

"I think you mean water-spout," Willow corrected as she handed her a box of tissues.

For a long while Buffy sat on her bed, Willow next to her, trying to compose herself. When Willow thought it was safe, and Buffy was unlikely to burst into tears again, she asked, "What happened?"

"I wish I knew. One moment I'm feeling ill and going to bed here, the next I'm waking up in bed with Giles in Las Vegas."

"Wow." Willow paused. "I don't know what else to say. Just, wow."

"I kind of used other words, but that's been my thought all day as well," Buffy smiled for the first time since she entered the house.

"What was it like?" Willow asked, curious.

"What was what like?"

"Waking up, uh, with Giles."

Buffy thought for a moment, trying to put things into words. "Before I realised where I was it felt good. Warm. Comfy. Safe."

"Then what happened?"

"I woke up more."

"Oh." Willow evidently wanted more detail than that.

"He had his hand on my stomach, and that's what kind of made me realise something was wrong. And then it began moving-"

"Moving?"

"Sort of . . . massaging my stomach, then moving up," Buffy reddened at that memory.

Willow's eyes widened as she realised what Buffy was implying. "And then?"

"It became fairly obvious that the hand belonged to a man."

"How?"

Buffy was surprised at how innocent Willow still was. "There are certain differences between men and women, and one of those differences was becoming, uh, noticeable."

"Notic - oh!" Willow reddened as well, but tried to stay calm (even though she was stuck on the < oh! oh! Giles? oh! > thought). "What did you do?"

"I panicked."

"Anyone would have. What happened next?"

"Want the gory details, or just a rough outline?"

"Game plan," Willow replied quickly.

"Ok. Panic, confusion, embarrassment, then Giles made me close my eyes while he got out of the bed."

"Why - oh! He was . . .? And you were . . .?"

"Yes and yes, to our eternal embarrassment."

Willow thought for a moment, then asked, "Did you look?"

"Willow!" Buffy turned a shade of red that would not look out of place on a fire truck.

"You did!"

Buffy began gathering up clothes and towels, trying not to look at her friend.

"So, did you like?"

" **Willow!** "

"You did! I knew it! Well, not knew it knew it, but, I knew it!"

Buffy did not dignify that with a response, because she was fleeing down the corridor to the bathroom.


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy turned on the shower and let it get up to temperature for a while as she undressed. Without thinking she pressed Giles' sweater to her face and inhaled the familiar scent, then she realised what she was doing and dropped it like it was on fire. When steam began appearing from the shower she climbed in and began washing her hair . . .

_** Strong fingers massaged the shampoo into her hair. It felt wonderful, and she wondered how she could ever go back to washing her own hair. He pulled her back under the spray to rinse off the soap, at the same time running his hands lightly over her arms. When her hair was squeaky clean she turned around. Her breath caught at the softly loving expression on his face, and then she giggled as his expression changed to the 'naughty child planning something evil' one she loved. He began carefully soaping up her body, paying particular attention to her arms and stomach and deliberately avoiding the areas that ached for his touch. Finally she had enough of his teasing and pulled his head down in a rough kiss. He responded as she had hoped, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up. She hooked her legs around his waist and held on, the water making that task slightly precarious. The kiss sent flames through her already heated body, and eventually he took the hint and propped them against the wall of the shower . . . **_

Cold water suddenly cascaded over Buffy, shaking her out of her daze. She drew a shaking hand over her face, and tried to banish the disappointment she felt at the abrupt end. For a while she stood, letting the cold water cool her overheated body (and imagination she added silently) then turned off the water. Then, shivering, she climbed out and wrapped herself in her towel. Wiping the steam off a mirror she stared at her reflection.  _Oh dear,_  she thought.

***

When Buffy got back to the room she shared with Willow her friend was busily taping away at her laptop. Although Willow had a beautiful new computer, as up-to-date as it could be (thanks to a guilty father forgetting her eighteenth birthday) set up in the basement/library, she still preferred to use her familiar laptop. Privately, Buffy suspected Willow was more upset about her birthday than she ever let on, but she would never admit to it. _That's my Willow, always trying to see the bright side in everything. Although it's a trait I could use right now._

Willow turned as she heard Buffy enter the room, and immediately noticed that the Slayer was pale and shaking. "What happened?"

"Is it that obvious?" Buffy asked tiredly.

"You looked better after facing the Master."

Buffy gave in, knowing Willow would pursue it until she had the truth. Bloodhounds had nothing on the girl for persistence. "I either had the most intense day-dream of my life, or I had a flashback."

"Wow. What happened?"

Reddening (and wondering if it wouldn't be easier if she just painted her face red) Buffy said, "Shower, me, Giles, do the math."

"Showers are nice . . ." Willow trailed off dreamily.

"Willow!"

"Sorry," Willow grinned, not the least bit repentant. "What happened?"

"I've walked into a parallel universe. Is this my Willow speaking?" Buffy teased.

"I'm not as innocent and naïve as everyone thinks. Ok, I still get all stuttery and I know I still blush, and I don't want details, but you need to talk, and I'm your best friend so who else can you talk to and besides Oz is away for the weekend so I have to live vicariously!" Willow was panting when she finished.

"Tense much?"

"I get like this when I haven't had smoochies for a few days." Willow sighed.

"I repeat, where's my Willow?" Buffy teased, and sat down on her bed.

For a long time she sat there, picking at the cover while Willow watched her and worried. Outwardly Buffy seemed to be doing well under the circumstances, but her friend could tell there was something troubling her that went beyond what they had already discussed. Eventually Willow decided that Buffy was going to need some prompting and asked her what was wrong. Buffy did not reply, although several times she opened her mouth to speak and stopped.

Willow moved from her desk to the bed and put on her 'resolve face'. "Buffy, something's wrong, or at least something's wrong that you haven't told me about. I'm not going to stop pestering you until you tell me. Witness the resolve face. Now, spill it."

"It's crazy," Buffy finally looked up and stopped her restless motion on the bedspread.

The red-headed witch grinned at her encouragingly. "We live on the Hellmouth. Nothing's totally crazy here."

"Thanks Will. You always know how to make me feel better," Buffy said dryly. She could see her friend was not going to let this go, and in truth she needed to talk to someone. After a long pause she began, and as she talked the words became easier until they were tumbling out. "All day I've been thinking 'this isn't happening'. I mean, why would I marry Giles, and do whatever we did and forget about it? Why would I do it at all? I've never had any feelings for him in that way. And the weirdest part is, all the time, I just want to be back waking up being held by him 'cos it felt so good. Even when I realised where I was, I was embarrassed but at the same time I didn't want to leave. And then there was the shower. It was so intense, but it ended before we, uh, . . . you know, uh, finished, and I  **really**  wanted to finish, and I was so disappointed I almost cried! I'm going crazy," she concluded.

"Liar," Willow stated.

"Huh?"

"You said you've never had feelings for Giles," Willow elaborated. "You're a liar. You've wanted to do bad things to him for months."

"Willow!"

"Don't Willow me. It's the truth."

Buffy had no answer to that. "How do you . . . I didn't even know until today."

"We share a room. You, uh, dream and, uh, talk and stuff and it's sometimes a little difficult to ignore," Willow explained awkwardly.

"I do?"

Any further discussion of the matter was cut off by the sound of the doorbell.

***

Giles had just enough time to register who was at the door before pain exploded across his face.

"How could you?" Joyce Summers asked in the quiet voice she used when she was incredibly upset. It was not unlike Buffy's tone of voice when she was furious. And her punch was also not unlike Buffy's, although it did at least leave him conscious.

When he just stood there, stunned, she continued. "I trusted you and you took advantage of that. She's just a child! How could you betray her trust like this?"

"I assure you I-"

"Don't!" she cut him off. "Nothing you can say can change what you've done. You've taken her away from me, taken her life from her, and now you've seduced her? What kind of man are you?"

"Mom, it's not like that," Buffy said quietly from the stairs.

"Then tell me what it's like, because I'm interested to know. I have a right to know why I've come home from my trip to find a letter telling me you've gotten married!" Joyce was beginning to shout now.

"He didn't seduce me, I-"

"No! I don't want to hear it. I've had enough. I can't do this anymore; constantly worrying about whether you're alive, or the world is ending, or whether I'm ever going to see you again. This is the last straw. I can't cope anymore."

"I can't stop being what I am!" Buffy shouted back.

"You haven't tried, and I can't do this anymore." Joyce turned and walked out.

The sound of the door slamming behind her seemed to echo through the house.


	6. Chapter 6

The Gang all eventually found their way to the kitchen where they sat for a while drinking tea and feeling awkward. Surprisingly Buffy had no inclination to cry again, even though she had a feeling this was the definite 'last straw' in her relationship with her mother. She clung to the hope that when this was all sorted out she and Joyce would be able to sit down, talk things through rationally and everything would be all right between them. A small voice at the back of her mind told her that was unlikely, but she decided to ignore it for now.

"So, what do we do now?" Xander asked to break the silence.

"Establish what happened, and try to work out what caused all this," Giles said.

"In English, we research," Buffy added.

"Quite."

"Well, what do you remember Giles?" Willow asked.

 

He thought for a moment. "I remember waking up on Wednesday morning. I felt nauseous, so decided not to go to work and went back to sleep. When I next woke up I was in Las Vegas, ah, uh . . ."

"Ditto," Buffy said quickly to save him embarrassment.

"That can't be a coincidence," Willow said excitedly.

"Pardon?" Giles queried.

"You both felt ill, and then you have the blank." Willow clarified.

"Well, it gives us a starting point," Giles said, already mentally going through his texts trying to remember if there were any spells that sounded like this.

"And Buffy's already had a flashback," the red-head added without thinking.

"Willow!" Buffy hissed.

"Really?" Giles asked, interested. "Can you describe it?"

Buffy felt her face heating again and vowed to do something horrible to Willow later. Like putting a frog in her bed. "You, uh, don't want to know."

"Any information would be useful at this point." Giles insisted.

"Trust me, this is not something that's going to be useful."

"You never know."

" **I**  know."

"Buffy, I really must insist. We have so little to go on, anything you know could help."

While she knew she going to be totally embarrassed, Buffy also knew that he was not going to give up. And a tiny part of her always enjoyed the way he blushed and stuttered when this stuff came up. So she stood on tip-toes and whispered a detailed account of the flashback in his ear. Giles' face grew redder by the moment, and when she finished and drew back she almost giggled at the look of total shock on his face.

"I n-need, to uh, to-to research, uh something," he stuttered, rushing from the room.  _And take a **very**  cold shower_ he added to himself.

 

Buffy turned her back to Willow and Xander and began rooting through the fridge, suddenly feeling very hungry.

"What was that?" Xander asked.

"You don't want to know," Willow told him.

"What would make - oh! I did not need to know that. I  **really**  did not need to know that."

***

When Giles had recovered his composure somewhat they gathered in the lounge to listen to the recording of the answer machine. It seemed to be their only contact with whatever had happened to them. Xander and Willow knew no more than they did and the note said no more than that they were going to Las Vegas.

As the recording played Buffy had a strange feeling of déjà vu, as though she had heard it before.  _Of course I've heard it before. It's my voice so I made it!_

"Hi guys!" Buffy's voice called out happily. There was a lot of background noise, the murmur of people talking and the occasional harsh sound of a PA announcement, although it was all jumbled and they could not make out the actual words. The only thing that was clear was Buffy's voice. "I hoped you'd be back from classes by now, but you're not, so I'll leave a message. By the time you get this Giles and I'll probably be halfway to Vegas, but I don't want you to worry. This isn't a Hellmouth thing, it's way better. We're getting married! I'm so happy. Oooh! There's our flight being announced! Sweetie do you want to say anything?" Muttering. "Ok, we have to go. See ya Sunday! Bye! Love you all!" The machine cut off.

Buffy could not believe how happy she sounded on the recording. As though all her cares had gone away.  _I sound so . . . in love,_  she thought, amazed.  _And so happy to be in love. I never sounded like that with Angel._

 

Giles could not believe how much that recording affected him. It was only brief, and the quality was not good, but she sounded so happy. Happier than he had ever known her to be. Whatever had been affecting them had at least given her that, even if it was only a short time.

"That's as much as we know," Willow said when she thought they were listening again. "Although, I did some searching on the Net and found the record of your marriage. You got married on Thursday the tenth of December at ten thirty in the morning. It's all legal and everything."

Two days ago. They had been married for two day.  _Wow,_  thought Buffy, rubbing the ring.  _I'm a married woman._

***

Late that night they finally all went to bed. The research was going nowhere and they were all tired. Giles walked heavily into his room, rubbing his aching head . . .

_** She stood before him, clad only in one of his shirts. She was beautiful, with her golden hair loose around her shoulders and the sunlight from the window lighting it up so it looked like a halo. Her smile was gentle and so full of love it made his heart ache._

"I'll always love you," she said softly.

_His emotions choked him, so he answered her the only way he could. He swept her into his arms and kissed her passionately. She returned the kiss with equal fervour and began running her hands up and down his bare back . . .**_

Giles was standing again in the middle of his room. It felt darker and emptier than it ever had before now that he had that image of his sunlit Slayer burned into his mind. He knew it was going to be impossible to sleep here, so he picked up a blanket and went downstairs.


	7. Chapter 7

_** She shut the hotel door and leaned against it, grinning. "So, husband, what does one normally do on a honeymoon?"_

_"Well, one usually eats good food, enjoys the pleasures of having no vampires to kill and sees the sights, among other things," he teased._

_"Cool. Where do you want to go first? I hear there's some great-" she was cut off as her husband claimed her mouth in a steamy kiss._

_"I guess you don't want to go sight-seeing," she commented after a while._

_"The view here is much better," he agreed as he tried to undo the tiny buttons on her blouse. Eventually he gave up and ripped it open._

_She gasped, and said, "Eager much?"_

_"Very."_

_"Good."_

_They began kissing again, working their way to the bed and leaving a trail of clothes behind them. His talented hands and mouth drove her crazy, and she could hardly believe how much she wanted him . . .**_

"Buffy!"

She woke to find Willow shaking her roughly and shouting in her ear. It was all she could do not to hit her friend.

"What?" she asked grumpily.

"You were dreaming. It's ok now-"

"You woke me up?" Buffy was not quite processing yet.

"You were moaning, and you only do that when you're - oops! I'm so sorry Buffy. I thought it was only a nightmare. Oh no, I'm so sorry."

Buffy just glared at her friend.

"I'm going somewhere else now."

"Good plan," Buffy advised her flatly.

She lay back to try to sort things through in her mind. The sun was shining brightly so she was not going to sleep anymore, but the dream had raised some questions.  _I **really**  wanted him,_ she thought. While she slept she had not really processed that it was Giles, but she knew she never expected it to be anyone else. Even Angel. She stopped and examined that thought.  _I didn't even think of Angel. I haven't thought of him since this started. Since way before this started. Why is that? And why didn't I notice?_

***

Xander followed the smell of cooking to the kitchen and found Giles in front of the stove stirring something in a frying-pan.

"Fry-up?" he asked hopefully.

He had not realised until he moved in with the Gang how good a cook Giles was, particularly at this fat laden English breakfast. Giles had told him that a lot of students in England (including himself years before) would have one when they got in from a night at the pub. Xander had not believed him until he came home from the Bronze one evening and found Giles busily frying. He had suddenly felt incredibly hungry and wolfed down a large plateful while the girls looked on in disgust. It was just one of the many things that made living here so good, and he really hoped that this situation was not going to end the arrangement.

In answer Giles cracked a couple of eggs into the pan.

When they both had plates of steaming food in front of them and Xander had taken the immediate edge off his hunger he said, "So, do you want to tell me why you slept down on the sofa?"

"How do you know I slept there?"

"I woke up in the night and needed something to eat."

"Oh." Giles concentrated on cutting his bacon, but he could feel the boy's eyes on him. "It seemed too . . . empty upstairs. I couldn't sleep."

"Buffy." Xander stated. He had guessed how the older man felt about his friend over a year ago, and could see that this was tearing him apart. Giles did not say anything, but the pain in his eyes told him everything. Xander could be blind to many things, but he was an expert at weird and messed up relationships. He only had to look at him and Anya to see that. Knowing about his feelings and having evidence that Buffy returned them were two different things though. And the current situation was weird even by Hellmouth standards. "If it helps, she doesn't blame you. This may even be waking her up. I can't believe I'm saying this."

Giles smiled at the boy, surprised by his astuteness. He was more observant than they gave him credit for. He was also far more accepting of things than he had thought he would be, particularly after his reaction to Angel in the past. Maybe in this at least they had something in common.  _I never thought I'd have something in common with Xander Harris, of all people._

He said nothing of those thoughts, instead quietly saying, "It does help. Thank you."

They shared an understanding smile and carried on eating.

"You know, this is much better than the cold pizza I had yesterday," Xander said after a while.

***

Buffy stood in front of her mirror debating outfits. She did not even know why it was such a problem. Normally on a Sunday morning she would just slouch around in shorts and a top unless she had to go out. But somehow that felt to revealing and worst of all too slobby. She rejected the sweats and large T-shirt out of hand as being far too messy, even though they covered her perfectly. Anything else she wore would look too dressy for her usual Sunday morning.  _Face it Buffy. You are going crazy. You want to look nice, but you're afraid someone will notice that you want to look nice. You're afraid **he**  will notice you want to look nice. And worrying about how revealing your outfit is is plain ridiculous. If he gets any of the flashbacks or dreams you've been having he won't have imagine what you look like anyway._

She flopped down on the bed with a loud groan. It was at this point that Willow poked her head round the door.

"Is it safe for me to enter?" she asked.

Buffy gestured her in and watched while she stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.

"I'm sorry," Willow apologised again.

"I thought you said I've been having dreams before," Buffy said crossly.

"You have. You just don't normally . . . moan in them. You talk, or mutter or sometimes hug your pillow, but usually you moan when you're having nightmares so I assumed . . . and I'm sorry," Willow finished quietly.

Buffy paused for a moment, then said, "Apology accepted."

Willow grinned and sat down next to her friend. "So, what'd I interrupt?"

"Willow! I'm not telling you that. It's too . . . personal."

"Must have been good if you won't tell me."

Buffy blushed as an image of the buttons on her blouse flying across the hotel room flashed across her mind.

"Wow." Willow breathed as she saw the blush. "Was it better than the shower?"

"When does Oz come back?"

"Tomorrow," Willow answered, puzzled by the sudden change of subject.

"Can't you ask him to come back sooner? Like now? Then you get smoochies with him instead of living through  **my**  flashbacks."


	8. Chapter 8

When the Gang were considering their living arrangements it was the basement of the house that sold it to them. The main house was comfortable with plenty of space. There was a lovely, well-equipped kitchen, large sitting room, and a dining room to entertain in. Upstairs there were enough bedrooms to have a guest room and allow the men to have their own room. Giles and Xander would not have survived sharing a room. The guest room was perfect if Anya or Oz wanted to stay over, although they operated a policy of "what Giles doesn't actively know about sleeping arrangements people's parents can't kill him for". Privately Giles could not see what business it was of Willow or Xander's parents because they had never paid any attention to what their children did when they lived at home. He would always remember Willow's face after she came home from picking up a couple of books a month after she left. Apparently her mother had asked her if she had enjoyed her sleepover at Bunny's house. He had almost gone over to the Rosenberg house and given her mother a piece of his mind on the subject of parents not noticing where their children are living. Instead he had cooked Willow's favourite meal for her and Buffy and Xander took her to the Bronze for some fun.

As I was saying, it was the basement they fell in love with. It was the size of the upper floors, but had been left as one enormous room. They had spent the final month of the summer vacation working on it, turning it into their base of operations. There was room to have all Giles' books stacked on shelves, with spare shelves for new books. One corner was designated for training, with mats on the floor, a punching bag fixed to the ceiling and practise weapons on the wall. Another corner had the cabinets and chests that housed their good weapons in. A small sink and work top occupied another corner, perfect for getting water for spells or making tea. There was a large table in the middle similar to the Library's, where Willow's big computer sat, and a couple of small sofas filled the last corner. The Basement felt as much a part of them as the Library had, although for different reasons. This was a place they had created themselves, working together and carried none of the bad memories from their time at the High School.

By the time Willow and Buffy went down the Basement Giles and Xander had been working for a while. There was tea made in a pot and Buffy poured herself a cup while Willow stared at it longingly, wishing Xander had not found out tea contained more caffeine than coffee and banned her from drinking it.

Buffy had finally, after much debate, decided on wearing sweats and a strappy top. The top was old, and the sweats ancient, so she did not feel like she had made an effort, but she felt good in them.  _You're going crazy,_  she told herself again.  _You know he likes this top, and it shows you off nicely. The sweats aren't really going to make that much of a difference. Pull yourself together and face facts. You're trying to impress him._

She growled at herself inwardly and picked up the book she had abandoned last night to try to shut out her thoughts.

The research was boring and tedious, and so far had produced no results. There were actually a huge number of spells that caused memory loss. They had to read through every one and try to decide if it was a possible, or if they could find a reason it could not be the spell responsible. The possible pile was much larger than the other pile and they had not even started to look at spells that could make the victim do things they would not otherwise do.

After a couple of minutes Buffy's attention wandered again. Giles sat opposite her with a pencil in his mouth and his hair mussed from running his hand through it.  _Why have I never noticed how cute he is when he does that?_ Buffy thought dreamily.  _Cute? What am I saying? Or thinking even? This is Giles! Watcher-guy. Tweed-man. Cute tweed-man . . . stop that! The tweed hasn't even made an appearance for weeks. And doesn't he look good in those jeans . . . no! Don't go there_  she told herself firmly.

Frustrated at her inability to concentrate, at least on the books, she got up and began pummelling her punch bag.

With each thud Giles winced inwardly, knowing that she working out her frustrations at the situation rather than needing training. He could understand her frustration; not knowing what had happened or why was torture. Although he was not entirely sure he wanted to remember. On the one hand he needed to know what happened during the three day blank but on the other hand, if their flashbacks were any guide, remembering could ruin their relationship. He wanted to remember why Buffy had told him so softly that she loved him, and he wanted to see her expression as they said their marriage vows. But he was afraid, both of the memories and of how much he wanted them.  _You're a sick old man,_  he told himself wearily.

Finally Buffy began to slow her pummelling, then she stopped, panting. When she had her breath back she began to slowly stretch out her muscles, feeling slightly embarrassed that after all this time she had forgotten that important part of her training routine in her need to beat out her frustrations. Giles decided his concentration was shot for the morning as well, and acknowledged that a little training would probably do him some good as well. So when Buffy stood from her final stretch she was just in time to catch the practise sword her threw to her.

Without a word they began fighting, thrusting and parrying strokes, neither one getting the upper hand. What Giles lacked in strength against her he more than made up for in skill and speed. He used a series of moves that Buffy had never seen before to neatly disarm her, sending her sword sliding across the floor. Her hand stung a little at the sudden disarming and Giles gave her a moment to recover before coming at her again. Buffy was not fazed at all and managed to avoid his thrust, at the same time using his momentum to throw him to the floor and pin his arm above his head.

For a long moment the two combatants were absolutely still. The sudden tension between them rendered them speechless. Buffy was straddling his stomach and had to stretch along his body to pin his arm down. The position put her mouth only inches from his, and she had the incredible urge to close the distance, just to see if it felt anything like her dreams. Ever so slowly her head began to descend to his-

"According to my stomach it has got to be lunch," Xander announced.

"Didn't you eat breakfast an hour ago?" Willow asked.

The sudden noise shocked Buffy and Giles out of their trance and she practically leaped off him, accidentally thumping him on the chest on the way. Immediately feeling guilty she extended a hand to her winded Watcher.

When he was standing she looked at him for a long moment then said, "I, uh, I . . ."

"Yes, well . . . you need to . . . try to remember not to . . . over-extend," Giles said, still breathless.

Buffy finally thought of an actual sentence, although how intelligent it was is debatable. "I must stink. I need a shower."

She almost ran up the stairs, overtaking Xander and Willow, all the time asking herself what in earth just happened.

Giles was left standing on the mats asking himself the same question. He kept replaying the moment in his mind, the expression in her eyes as she looked down at him, the way she had seemed to be lowering her head to his.  _If I didn't know better I'd say she was about to kiss me. I must be going senile from the stress._  His breathlessness was not entirely down to the misplaced elbow as Buffy jumped. He had been holding his breath, hardly daring to believe what was happening.  _When Buffy has finished, I think I'll take a shower. A very, very cold one._

***

By evening the Basement was a mess. Empty chip packets and cans were strewn around the room and books littered every surface, nominally in piles of importance although which pile was which was hard to tell. The cartons from the pizzas they had ordered in lay on the table and empty teacups were piled in the sink. The advantage of the Basement over the Library was that they could leave it without having Snyder complaining at them.

Willow eventually stretched, wincing as her cramped muscles protested, and glanced at the clock. "Guys, I have an early class tomorrow so I'm going to bed."

"Sounds good," Buffy agreed.

"I have no classes, because I'm not a shmuck like you lot, but sleep is always of the good," Xander said.

A thought occurred to Buffy. "Will, what did you tell them at college?" she asked, slightly panicked.

"I said you ran away to Vegas to marry your sugar-daddy of course," Willow grinned.

Buffy glared at her. "That is  **not**  funny."

"Though of something funny, but not going to say it," Xander commented, looking at Buffy warily.

"Good plan," she said, and then resumed glaring at Willow.

"Ok," Willow gave in. "I just told them you had flu. I mean, you did have oogyness on Wednesday after all. Oh, Giles?"

"Hmm?" he said, surfacing from his book slowly.

"Professor Macarthy called to ask how you were. I told him you were sick and couldn't talk because you had lost your voice."

"Thank you." Giles had not even thought about the days he had missed at the college. As Professor of Mythology he did not have a heavy lecture schedule, but he had probably still caused problems. "Did he leave any message?"

Willow's face took on the glazed look she got when trying to recite something from memory. "He said not to worry, he would let your students know you were ill and he was sure they had not missed enough to endanger their grades. He also said you needed to remember to go to the monthly Faculty meeting tomorrow evening, and he hopes your mother doesn't get sick again. I didn't know your mother was sick," Willow protested.

Giles winced. Although it was worded very politely the message told him quite clearly that Professor Macarthy was not happy with him. "Sh-she died several years ago. I-I needed a reason not to attend the meeting last month when we were having problems with that fungus demon."

"The master of understatement strikes again," Buffy commented, remembering the trail of destruction the demon had left.

"You lied!" Willow accused him.

"I-I suppose I did. It was for the greater good of mankind though, so I doubt it will be counted against me."

***

Buffy could not sleep. Despite her exhaustion from the training and the mind-numbing tedium of the research, it was two o'clock and she was wide-awake. She turned over again and tried to get comfortable but it was no use. Her mind was determinedly awake. The worst part, though, was that the sneaky thought that she would sleep much better if she was cuddled up with someone, a specific someone, kept worming it's way into her mind. Her stomach began to grumble, and she realised that she would never get any sleep now. So she silently got out of bed, put on her robe and headed downstairs to make herself a quick snack.

She snuck down the stairs, through the silent house, trying not to wake anyone else. She did not feel up to explaining why she was so restless. In the kitchen she raided the fridge and began making herself a sandwich.

Giles had been unable to sleep. The couch was not long enough for his tall frame and it was murdering his back. So when he heard someone creeping down the stairs he decided to investigate. He found the Slayer in the kitchen, making what looked like an impressive sandwich. In the moonlight her hair looked silver, and he called himself ten kinds of sentimental fool as part of his mind began comparing her to moonlit maidens from his favourite poems. For a while he leaned against the door jam and watched her as she concentrated on setting the sliced cheese just so on the bread. Then he had to smile as he saw her begin to spread sandwich pickle over the cheese. She was always protesting that cheese and pickle had to be the weirdest sandwich filling ever, and that only the English could think that up. It seemed she had had a change of opinion on that at least.

As she began to cut the sandwich up Giles shifted, accidentally knocking against the pin board by the door. The sudden noise startled Buffy and she spun around, dropping the knife.

"Giles!" she hissed when she realised who it was. In a loud whisper she continued, "Don't you know not to sneak up on a Slayer holding a knife?"

 

He looked pointedly at the knife on the floor.

"Ok, minor technicality, but I still have a point," she continued to protest.

He walked over and bent to pick up the knife, at the same time as Buffy did the same. His hand closed around the knife handle and hers closed around his. Their eyes met and a spark seemed to pass between them again. Giles suddenly began to feel very warm as he saw the expression in her eyes. There was curiosity in them and he thought he also saw desire. Without speaking they rose and stood, their hands still connected over the knife. He looked down into her eyes, trying to decide what to do.

_Kiss me_  Buffy silently instructed, looking up into his green eyes.  _What am I thinking? This is Giles! Again with the 'this is Giles' crap. You know you want him, so why protest? Because - because - this is Giles! Great, I'm on the losing side of a pointless argument with myself. I'm losing my mind. Oh my god, he's going to kiss me! At last_  the thought sneaked itself in, just before her lips met his.

It was only the faintest brush of lips, so gentle she almost thought she imagined it. As he withdrew she raised up on tip toes to kiss him again, surprised by her boldness.  _Warm. Nice,_  she thought dreamily.

The lights suddenly blinked on and Xander wandered into the kitchen.

"Why didn't anyone tell me we were having a midnight feast?" he asked as he walked over to the food-laden worktop, blithely unaware of what he had just interrupted.

Buffy and Giles had jumped apart as the lights went on and now stood at opposite ends of the room, both blushing and unable to look at each other. The knife lay where they dropped it, halfway between them.

"I'm going to, uh . . . ya know . . . go, uh, back to . . .yeah." Buffy managed, and practically ran upstairs.

"I-I-I need to, uh, to . . . uh, sleep," Giles stammered and rushed from the kitchen, saying a silent farewell to any hopes he had had of doing so.

"What was that?" Xander asked the empty kitchen. Then he noticed the food. "Great, free sandwich!"


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to the sleepless night Buffy was not a happy Slayer when Willow woke her up the next morning. As she also interrupted a  **very**  nice dream she was understandably annoyed. She was absolutely certain that this was a dream and not a flashback because it was a replay of Saturday morning in the hotel, only with a completely different outcome. Or at least, it would have been if she had not been woken up.

She grumbled and muttered all the way to the shower, but thankfully for Willow's future long life she was in a better mood when she came out. Then she stood in front of the mirror and had another clothes debate, although this time for a totally different reason.

"Pink or green?" she asked Willow when the redhead entered the room, holding up the two short-listed dresses.

"What's the occasion?" Willow asked, sitting on her bed and towelling her wet hair.

"I'm going to visit mom after classes. She's had time to calm down so maybe I can try to explain things."

"Do you know what you're going to say?"

"Not yet. It's just so complicated."

Willow began combing the tangles out of her hair as she said, "It's not  **that**  complicated. I mean, ok, you're married to Giles and you don't know how, but it's not like you're in love with him." She added the last part in a deliberately casual tone.

"I guess," Buffy replied after a pause.

Willow put her comb down and looked at Buffy, searching her face. "You aren't, are you?" she asked, trying to make her friend talk.

"Of course not," Buffy said quickly, but she found she could not actually look Willow in the eye as she said it.

"Buffy, you don't lie well," Willow told her. "Pink, by the way."

"Pink? Oh." Buffy moved behind the screen in the corner of the room to finish dressing. Somehow it was easier to talk without seeing her friend's face.

As she shed her robe and began to put the dress on she tried to explain. "I don't know how I feel anymore. It used to be so simple. I loved Angel and Giles was my Watcher. Now when I look at him I can't help seeing him in the bed in the hotel, or in the shower. And, I kissed him."

Buffy said the last part in a rush, glad she was still hidden by the screen.

"You what? Oh wow. This is huge! You-you kissed Giles! What was it like?" Willow gibbered. She had noted the use of 'loved' instead of 'love' but now was not the time to tackle that.

"Calm Will. It was only one kiss. Or two." Buffy stepped from behind the screen. "What do you think? Respectable enough?"

"It's fine. But-but . . . you kissed Giles!"

The blonde Slayer looked at her friend strangely. "You've heard about all my flashback things, and yet you're more excited about a kiss."

"Well, you're flashback things are . . . but this is . . . different. This is non-spelled Buffy. No memory loss. Just you. Wow. What was it like? When did it happen?"

"You have a one track-mind," Buffy accused her friend. "And it was nice, while it lasted."

"What happened?" Willow asked, curious about her phrasing.

Buffy related the previous night's adventure, finishing by saying, "Xander's lucky I like him or he would be eating through a straw today."

"You liked it then?" Willow asked, grinning.

Buffy flushed guiltily.

"You liked kissing him, and you deny being in love with him  **way**  too much. Should this be telling me something?"

"Willow!"

The Slayer began to stalk out of the room, only to be stopped by her best friend.

"Buffy, the ring. People could start to talk . . ."

She looked down at the golden ring on her left hand. The thought of not wearing it hurt more than she thought it would. So she took it off and strung it on the chain she wore around her neck.

Willow hid her smile as she followed her friend out of the room.

***

Buffy stood in front of the door and lifted her hand to knock. The she lowered it. Joyce's assistant at the gallery had said she was working from home today and Buffy knew why. It was because of her. She raised her hand and hesitated again. Finally she knocked. After a long pause the door opened.

"Buffy," Joyce said flatly when she saw who it was.

"We need to talk," Buffy said.

Her mother faltered a beat, and the moved to let her in. The brief hesitation did not go unmissed.

They sat in awkward silence in the lounge for a while.

"You wanted to talk," Joyce finally stated.

"Yes." Buffy took a deep, calming breath. "It's not what you think."

"What isn't?" Joyce did not want to make this easy.

"This. Giles. Me. The marriage. It's not what you think."

"So what is it?"

Buffy took another deep breath and launched into an abbreviated account of the past few days, leaving out the details she felt Joyce just would not handle. Including last night's kiss. When she had finished they sat in silence again.

After a while Joyce spoke. "I really don't know what to say. I don't know if this makes it better or worse. Do you love him?"

"Mom!" Buffy protested, disconcerted by being asked that question twice so far today. "That doesn't have anything to do with this."

"It has everything to do with this. You may not remember what happened but the fact remains that you felt strongly enough to run away and get married. I think you need to work out why you did that."

"That's what we're trying to do! There are just so many spells and-"

"Don't try to hide behind the Hellmouth," Joyce interrupted. "I may not like this but you are married and you have to make some decisions about it. You have to decide whether you're going to work at your marriage or get divorced."

"Divorced?" The word hit her like a punch to the stomach.

"If you don't want to stay married, divorce is the only other option."

"Oh," Buffy said faintly.

"I can give you the name of my lawyer. He's very good-"

"That's it? You want me to get a divorce?" Buffy could hardly believe this was her mother talking to her.

"Buffy, he's twice your age. He's almost the same age as me! He took advantage of you when you were-"

"Whatever happened he did not take advantage of me!" Buffy cut in quickly. "I may not remember much but he was definitely  **not**  the one taking advantage."

"Oh." Joyce did not know how to reply to that.

"Yes, 'oh'. The way I felt - remember feeling - after the ceremony, well, I wanted it as much as he did."

"Oh."

"Giles would never take advantage of me or anyone else." Buffy finished quietly.

She saw the red flush stealing over her mother's face and knew instantly what it was for.

"Is this about the candy thing? Are you  **jealous**  because of the candy thing?" Joyce would not meet her eye. "Or is it that you don't like the thought that I'm married to someone you once slept with? And don't use the Hellmouth as an excuse," she added sarcastically, throwing her mother's words back at her.

For a while there was silence again as they both tried to calm down so they would not say something else they would regret.

"I was . . . embarrassed by the candy incident," Joyce finally admitted. "I might even have had a tiny "crush" on Mr Giles when I first met him. But that is it. I'm not jealous of you; I'm worried for you. And I can't forgive him for taking my little girl away."

"I grew out of little girl-hood long before I met Giles. He's all that's helped me survive it," Buffy said standing. "And if I lose him because of this I won't survive anymore."

There was nothing left for them to say and they knew it. Joyce was not going to change the way she felt and Buffy had to sort out her feelings.

Joyce held the door open for her daughter. "You never answered my question. Do you love him?"

Buffy stopped and turned to face her mother. Their discussion had finally clarified her feelings, at least regarding Giles although she was still working through everything else, and she could not lie. "Yes."

Then she turned and walked quickly down the path. Joyce shut the door and leaned against it. For a moment she just stood there, then silent tears began to roll down her cheeks. She had known what Buffy's answer would be - had in fact known deep down for a long time. Her daughter was only now realising what she had known for months.

"Don't let my little girl get hurt," she whispered softly.


	10. Chapter 10

Willow headed straight for the living room when she came home from college, knowing Xander would be there watching TV before his shift at the restaurant of the "Sunnydale New Hotel". Considering it was the only hotel in town that could be described as a hotel instead of a dingy motel Willow always thought the name was a bit of a con, but it seemed to impress the guests.

"We need to talk," she announced as she entered the room.

"What have I done?" Xander asked immediately. "I didn't know I'd done some that needs a 'talk'. I-"

"About Buffy and Giles," she interrupted before he could start rambling.

Giles was not due home for hours yet thanks to the Faculty meeting and Buffy was visiting her mother, so Willow knew this was the only time they might be able to talk without interruption.

Xander waited for her to carry on, knowing his best friend well enough to know there was something big on her mind.

"Has Buffy talked to you at all?" He shook his head. "And Giles?"

"Not much," he replied, unusually seriously for him. "He's totally in love with her though."

"I know," Willow replied. "She's head over heels with him too. We just have to make them see it."

"How? I'm sensing a plan in the making."

"Not a plan with actual . . . plans, but I have a sort of plan."

"There's sense in there somewhere," Xander teased her, unable to be totally serious for long.

"Out of the two of them which is most likely to make a move?" Willow asked, knowing the answer but wanting Xander to work it out too. It was much easier to persuade him of something this way.

He thought for a moment, weighing things up. "Buffy, but not by much."

"Exactly. We work on Buffy, make her ready to do anything to keep him and it'll all work out," Willow pronounced proudly.

"The hard part will be making her see she's in love with him," Xander warned.

"Actually that's the easy bit. She's almost there anyway. The hard part is going to be getting past her fear of rejection and making her desperate enough to try anything."

"Almost more than I needed to know."

"Xander!"

***

The door to the house opened just as Buffy put her hand on the handle and Xander rushed out.

"Hi Buff, bye Buff, see ya later!" he called over his shoulder.

The Slayer grinned and began taking off her coat as she walked down the hall to the kitchen where she could hear a radio playing, a bounce in her step that had not been there a few days ago.

"Hi Will! Watcha cooking? Is Xander ever going to be on time to work?" Buffy was definitely cheerful.

Willow started and turned, looking guilty. A knife clattered to the table from where it had been chopping tomatoes.

"Giles isn't around so don't worry. I won't tell him you're using your powers to chop vegetables."

"It's not that it's - uh, how did the visit go?" Willow cut herself off mid-thought, not wanting to tell Buffy she had been trying to plan how to get her to talk to Giles.

"Fine," Buffy replied, deliberately casually. "I explained, we talked rationally for a few minutes, then we traded a few insults and accusations, she told me to get a divorce, I told her I'm in love with Giles and then I left. Went better than I thought it would."

"She told you to get a divorce?" Willow asked, incredulous.

Buffy paused, trying to shift mental gears. She had been completely prepared for Willow's surprise at her admitting she loved Giles but not this. "Didn't you notice the rest? The 'I love Giles' part?"

"Of course. I already knew  **that**. I can't believe she told you to get a divorce." The witch was enjoying her friend's shocked expression.

"How did you know?  **I**  didn't know until today."

"It's pretty obvious to anyone who knows you," Willow told her, handing Buffy a knife and gesturing to her to chop the rest of the tomatoes.

"Oh." Buffy was slightly disappointed. She had been looking forward to shocking Willow. That did not last too long though, her joy at finally working out her feelings was too great.

"So, what are you going to do?" Willow asked as she resumed chopping some mushrooms.

"I don't know yet. I don't even know if he feels the same way."

Willow 'looked' at her. "Of course he does."

"Under the spell thing he was very . . . affectionate, but normally? I don't know," Buffy said. "Will, why I am I chopping enough tomatoes to feed an army?"

"Spaghetti sauce," the witch told her proudly. "There's enough here to reheat on Xander's day to cook."

"Ah." Buffy chopped for while, thinking. "I guess I need to talk to Giles sometime."

"Soon." Willow added. "Or you'll back out and neither of you will talk."

"When we've sorted things out," Buffy amended.

Willow frowned. "Don't leave things too long, Buffy, or he'll have time to think and come up with reasons why you shouldn't be together."

***

_** Buffy woke up feeling better. It was not just that the sickness had gone, but she felt lighter, as though a weight had lifted from her shoulders. She felt as though for the first time ever she was seeing things clearly and the guilt that always dogged her was gone._

She rolled over and stretched, enjoying the warmth of the sun shining down on her through the window. Her stomach growled. < Food. I need food. I wonder if there's any of that chocolate cake left? > Her robe was lying on the floor where she had dropped it a couple of hours before so she picked it up, put it on and wandered downstairs. The fridge was her first destination and she began to put together a snack. Briefly she wondered whether Giles would want anything. She always seemed to know whether or not he was in the house. < Must be a side-affect of being in love with him. In love? Yeah. I love him. > The knowledge gave her a warm glowy feeling and she forgot all about her hunger. < I'll just go and see if he's alright. >

Buffy peeked around his bedroom door and grinned when she saw him lying huddled beneath the covers, facing away from the door. < He looks lonely > she thought to herself wickedly. < Maybe he'd like some company. >

As she walked over to the bed she dropped her robe on the floor and crawled under the covers behind him. She was slightly surprised by her boldness, but put it down the relief of finally admitting to herself how she felt. He felt so warm and she cuddled up against his back, wrapping an arm around his waist. She could not help sighing as his warmth penetrated her thin pyjamas. For several minutes she lay there, enjoying the feeling of being close to him. Then she got a little bored. Closeness was great, but she wanted to be closer and he had not noticed she was in his bed!

This called for new tactics. The hand that had been round his waist now moved and began stroking his chest. Buffy sat up on her other elbow and looked down at him, contemplating her next move. < He's so cute asleep, but awake would be better. > Now that she had admitted her feelings for him she could acknowledge the desire she felt when she looked at him. Looking down at him the temptation to kiss him was more overwhelming than it had ever been, so she decided to act on it. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. He shifted a little but did not wake up. She was feeling close to offended now at his lack of attention. < I finally work out I'm totally in love with him, and he can't even be bothered to wake up! Why do I do this to myself? I'm not taking it anymore. He's going to wake up, whether he wants to or not. I want him! >

With that decision made she slipped her hand under the pyjama shirt he was wearing before she lost her confidence. The feel of his flesh, lightly sprinkled with hair, almost distracted her from her mission, but not quite. She began trailing kisses down his cheek, along his jaw and down his neck. He began to stir and she grinned to herself before lightly nibbling on his ear lobe.

That woke him up and his eyes snapped open. For a moment he looked around, confused, then his gaze focused on Buffy.

"Buffy! What are you doing here?" he asked, his sleepy mind not processing information well.

"I thought you might like some company. You know, this bed is much too big for only one person." As she spoke her fingers were busy working the buttons on his shirt.

"I-I-I . . . but . . . what are you doing?" His voice almost squeaked when she began lightly running her nails up and down his exposed chest.

"Getting comfortable," she whispered in his ear before she placed another kiss just below it.

"You-you . . . ah . . . don't . . . why?" Giles was finding it difficult to concentrate. And he was not even sure why he was arguing. After all, this was what he had wanted for a long time.

"Because," was Buffy's simple reply.

He rolled over to face her and tried to work out what was happening.

Buffy's face lit up. "Much better."

"Buffy, are you . . . ah . . . alright? You . . . mmm . . . don't usually . . . oh god . . . act like . . . aah . . . this?" Buffy was trailing kisses down his chest, pausing to nibble and lick his nipples, and then moving down to his stomach, and Giles was almost unable to remember why he was protesting.

She looked up at him, happiness and laughter sparkling in her hazel eyes, and said, "I know. It's crazy, isn't it? I spent all that time obsessing over a guy I can't have when the guy I really want is here all the time. I'm so blind sometimes."

"You want me?" Giles asked, hope flaring for the first time in a long time.

Buffy hooked one leg over his hip and rolled them so that she sat on his stomach, his erection pressed against her butt. "I want you, I love you and I need you. And now I've finally figured that out . . . well, you seem to want me as well."

For an answer he rolled them so that he was lying cradled between her legs, holding himself propped up on his elbows so that he could look down into her lovely face. He gently brushed a few strands of golden hair away from her face and told her, "I love you more than anything. I just never thought-"

Buffy silenced him by reaching up and kissing him. The kiss was gentle for around two seconds, and then the pent-up passion overcame them. Their mouths moved together, trying to claim each other's taste and show how much they felt for each other. He ran his tongue over the seam of her lips, asking for entry, and she gave it willingly. The flames of their desire burned even higher as their tongues began a sensual dance and their hands moved to try to feel every inch of each other.

They explored and caressed, both wanting to know each other's bodies as well as they knew each other's hearts. Finally it became too much to bear and they both soared to the heavens and found the stars waiting there for them. And then they lay together, still connected, just taking the time to enjoy their new-found closeness.

"Wow," Buffy finally whispered.

"Indeed," Giles agreed.

He held his love to him as he rolled them so that she was lying on him, her head pillowed on his chest. She sighed contentedly and snuggled closer to him.

"We should have done this a long time ago," Buffy said quietly.

"And I would have been sent to prison, and probably deported for it," Giles reminded her.

"Oh. That would have been a bad thing. Good thing I waited to work out how much I love you." She placed a soft kiss on his lips, and smiled when he began to respond.

Grrruggh.

Buffy smiled in embarrassment at the rumble of her stomach. "Way to ruin the moment Buffy," she commented.

"Have you eaten today?" Giles asked her.

"Not in the sense of actually eating. I made a snack downstairs, only I got distracted."

"By what?"

She kissed him. < I could definitely get used to this, > she thought happily.

"Ah," he said when they came up for air. Her stomach growled again. "We'd best get you something to eat."

He planted a quick kiss on her lips, and then they untangled themselves and got out of bed. Buffy picked up a shirt that was lying on a chair and put it on, enjoying the smell of Giles on it. She watched in undisguised admiration of her lover as he pulled on a pair of jeans.

He looked up and his breath caught at the soft expression of love and happiness on her face. She looked more beautiful than he had ever thought possible with the sun lighting her golden hair so it shone like a halo and her face glowing from their loving. < This is how I always want to remember her >

"I will always love you," she told him softly.

Words escaped him so he simply picked her up and kissed her. **

Giles woke up breathing heavily, almost overcome by the memories. They had . . . and he had . . .  _Bloody hell. How am I meant to sleep now? Did she really mean all that?_

He got up and made his way to the kitchen to make himself a soothing cup of tea.

***

Buffy also woke up breathing heavily.  _We . . . and we . . . oh wow. Oh my god. He was . . . oh my god. Wow. Did he really mean all that?_

She got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen to get a drink, sure she would never sleep after that. She stopped in the doorway, surprised to see Giles staring out of the kitchen window with a steaming cup in his hand.  _Ok, he doesn't know what you dreamed . . . or remembered, or whatever. Just calmly get some water and go back upstairs._  With that thought she went over to a cupboard and got out a glass.

The noise startled Giles, who had been lost in thought, and he jumped sending his mug crashing into the sink.

"B-Buffy, are you . . . uh, alright?" he asked shakily.

"Better than you," Buffy replied, looking smashed mug.

"Yes, well, I was, uh, thinking." He began picking up the fragments of china so he did not have to look at her. He could feel a steady flush running up his face as he remembered what he had just dreamed.

"What else is new," she muttered under breath.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."

He carried on clearing up the mess, and Buffy could not help noticing that he refused to look at her. After a while she made a guess at what was wrong. "You had a flashback thingy, didn't you?"

He still could not look at her. "I-yes, yes I did. I'm sorry, I-"

"You didn't like it? 'Cos a totally enjoyed mine." Buffy flushed as she realised what she had said. "Note to self; deep breath before speaking saves embarrassment."

Finally he looked at her and smiled his shy smile. "I . . . I couldn't regret it, ever."

Hope flared in Buffy at his admission and she knew it was time they tried to talk about things. "We haven't talked about what happened. Or at least, talk in the sense of talking and not stuttering and blushing at each other."

"I wasn't sure what to say."

They sat down at the kitchen table and tried to decide what to say. Buffy's first question, however, startled him. "When you were, uh, *with* mom, why . . . I mean, why . . . I don't know what I mean."

Giles thought he did, and tried to reassure her. "That damned candy. It . . . when I was that age, I would sleep with anyone as long as she was willing and female. I was not a nice person."

"Strangely that makes me feel better." Buffy told him.  _He doesn't feel **that**  way about mom! I'm sick to be happy about that._

They exchanged shy smiles. "So," Buffy began after a while, "what was it about?"

"Pardon?"

"The flashback. Must have been a goody."

"Buffy, I don't think-"

"You made me tell you mine."

"But-"

"Spill."

He sighed and gave her a very brief out line of the flashback, accompanied by stuttering copious blushing.

"Sounds pretty familiar," Buffy mused. "You left a few bits out, and I still can't believe I was so, uh, pushy, but it's definitely familiar."

He gaped at her, amazed that after that she was still speaking to him and able to look him the eye.

Then she surprised herself. She planted a quick kiss on his lips and said, "I can never regret anything that happened either."

She ran out of the room and to her bed, a pleased smile on her face.


	11. Chapter 11

Buffy was awake and dressed by the time Willow crept into their room. Oz had returned from his trip late last evening and stayed in their guestroom rather than returning to the noisier house he shared with the Dingoes. Or at least that was the excuse he and Willow gave.

"So, did Oz get any sleep?" Buffy asked with a sly grin as the witch tiptoed into the room.

"Eep!" Willow squeaked. "What are you doing awake?"

"Good morning to you too."

Willow glared at her and began moving around the room gathering up the things she would need in the shower.

"I take it by the non-reply that you got smoochies." Buffy grinned at her now blushing friend.

"It's none of your business," Willow replied with as much dignity as she could while her face fluoresced. "And why are you awake?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Ah. Flashback?"

"Oh yeah." Buffy smiled dreamily.

"Do I want any details or . . ."

Buffy gave her an even briefer outline than Giles had, including the details of their meeting in the kitchen during the night. For a long moment Willow was silent.

"I . . . that . . . why . . . how do you feel?" she eventually managed.

"Surprisingly unembarrassed, although that's probably because compared to everything else that's happened over the past few days this was quite tame. I still can't believe that I, uh . . . seduced Giles. I guess that's the only way to describe what I did."

"Seduced is such a strong word," Willow began, "but, yup, that's what you did. You hussy."

"Willow!"

"I meant that in a good way."

"Is there a good way to call someone a hussy?"

***

Willow and Buffy were the first people to return home that afternoon. Giles had to finish up at college and Xander was covering the afternoon shift at the hotel as well as the evening one. Willow put her coat neatly on a hook and set her bag under while Buffy slung her coat in the general direction of a hook and hung her purse on the railing of the stairs. For a while they sat in the kitchen, drinking sodas and gossiping, enjoying the rare chance to be teenagers not worried about the future of the world or demons. Eventually Buffy looked at the clock and suggested they get down to some research.

"Buffy, what are you hoping to find? There are so many spells, and there's no way to know which one was used," Willow asked. "You know how you feel about him, and I know he feels the same, so . . ."

"I don't know," Buffy confessed. "I want my memories back. I want to know why we got married so suddenly. Not that I wouldn't marry him again in a flash, but it's just not like him. And most of all I want to know who did this."

"I can see your point," Willow commented. "I'll get the snacks, you get the drinks. Your husband will be home any minute now."

_My husband. I like that_  Buffy thought, feeling a thrill of happiness at the thought.

On the way to the Basement Buffy snagged the mail to sort through. She and Willow were just sitting down when they heard the front door opening, and Buffy smiled to herself at the knowledge that Giles was home. She was slightly amazed at how much she missed him during the day, and had done ever since the school was destroyed. Now that she could think about these things rationally she knew she had come to count on being able to see him all the time at school, and despite being on the same campus at college it was not the same.  _Somehow going to see him in his office is different to seeing him in the library,_  she thought to herself.

She began sifting through the mail sorting it out into piles for the various members of the household. Giles got all the bills (naturally) and Xander had three circulars offering him credit cards. Evidently they did not know anything about his finances. Buffy was fairly surprised to receive a hand written letter postmarked in Nevada. Curiously she opened it.

Giles came down the stairs in time to see Buffy blush and throw a piece of paper on the table. She looked up and saw him and if it was possible her blush grew deeper. For a moment she sat in thought, debating what she would do, then she thrust the paper into his hand and ran up the stairs.

When Giles read the letter he could immediately see why she was behaving so strangely.

> 'Buffy,
> 
> I'm sure you'll understand why I'm not telling you this in person - your husband tends to be somewhat irrational about me. Before you start accusing me of anything I would like to reassure you that I had nothing to do with this. That's not to say I wouldn't have done this if I had thought of it, but someone beat me to it. Pity. It's been such fun.
> 
> Where to start? I was passing through Sunnydale for a meeting (I'm sure you won't hold it against me if I don't give names) and happened to pass your house. You can imagine my surprise when I saw you and Ripper come out and share rather a passionate kiss. If that taxi hadn't arrived when it did . . . you get the picture.
> 
> I decided to follow you and see what you did. You were rather good fun on the aeroplane and your wedding ceremony was quite touching.
> 
> My point? I believe you may want to look up the Rite of Atani. Just a suggestion of course, after all I'm a mere dabbler in these things.
> 
> I hope I've helped,
> 
> Ethan Rayne
> 
> PS. Welcome to the mile high club!'

As Buffy had earlier Giles sat for a while in thought then said, "Willow, can you try to find some information on the Rite of Atani?"

Before she could ask what was wrong he followed his Slayer up the stairs. Ever curious, Willow quickly read the letter that Giles had left on the table. As she read the final comment she began blushing.

"Wow. Why didn't she tell about that? Not that I want to know . . . or at least, know details. You always hear . . . I'm talking to myself. This is not good. Research. Right. I can do that. I wonder if Oz likes flying . . ."

***

Buffy was noisily washing up when Giles found her. Considering they had a perfectly good dishwasher he guessed she was using it as a distraction so he got a towel and began drying up. She was not so deep in her thoughts that she had not noticed him entering the kitchen this time, so she managed not to jump when he spoke.

"I'm going to kill bloody Ethan the next time I see him," Giles stated.

"Need a hand?" Buffy joked weakly.

There was an awkward silence broken only by the clank of dishes.

"You know," Buffy began after a few minutes, "I'm more embarrassed that Ethan saw us than about anything else in that letter. Strange, huh?"

Giles simply gaped at her. Again.  _This is getting to be habit. And she seems to enjoy it._

***

"I found something!" Willow cried excitedly as Buffy and Giles came down the stairs.

"You did?" Buffy sounded almost as excited as her best friend.

"Giles, can we trust what Ethan said?" Willow asked. "I mean, he's Ethan and . . . well, that's about it. He's Ethan."

He considered for a moment. "A-all things considered, I think he's telling the truth. He has no reason to lie and in this case the truth would be more fun for him. Ethan only cares about two things; himself and his fun. Even if he's lying about not casting the spell he'll have told the truth about the rest of it."

"Good. 'Cause this spell is actually a fairly simple one and I'm not sure why we overlooked it. Well, apart from not having looked in this book yet. And it being so simple."

"Will, you're babbling again," Buffy told her.

"Oh. Well, the Rite of Atani just releases all your inhibitions and fears of the consequences, and then kind of plays around with your memory when it wears off. Temporary amnesia sort of thing. You're already having flashbacks, so give it time and you'll remember it all."

"So this means that everything we did . . ." Giles began.

". . .we wanted to do anyway." Buffy finished.

"That's about it." Willow agreed. "No-one forced you to do anything. It was all you. Uh, Giles? Are you ok? You look kind of comatose."


	12. Chapter 12

_** The tiny hand encased in his was full of contradictions, much like its owner; small, delicate, beautiful, yet covered with tiny scars and calluses. At this moment he knew he could not love either more. He looked nervously into her hazel eyes, hoping this was not a dream and he would not wake up alone in his bed. She looked up at him, happiness glowing from her face, and squeezed his hand gently in reassurance. Unfortunately she was a little nervous and miscalculated her gentle squeeze. For a moment he was sure he felt bones crack, but the minister's voice interrupted his thoughts._

_"We are gathered here today to witness the joining . . ."_

_As they made their vows and exchanged their rings they held each other's eyes, captivated by the love they saw there. Although Giles was sure it was also because it enabled Buffy to grin suggestively when they got the 'bodies worshipping' part. True to form he blushed and stuttered at that bit - he did not want to disappoint her._

_Finally it was over and the minister said the traditional, "You may now kiss your bride."_

_Giles bent his head and captured his bride's lips in a sweet kiss . . . **_

"Giles!" Buffy shouted in his ear.

"Wh-! Hmmm?" He felt dazed and it took him a moment to realise he was not in a chapel in Las Vegas but in a basement in Sunnydale.

"You zoned on us for a while," Willow informed him. "If I'd thought news of what the spell was would do that to you I would have prepared you, or bought smelling salts or something. Maybe-"

"He had a flashback," Buffy interrupted her.

"Oh. How do you-"

"I just know. He had that 'not really here' look, a different one to the 'not really here because he's in a book' look. Plus, Giles doesn't normally have a really silly, goofy grin."

"True."

And it was true. The goofy grin looked completely out of place on the normally staid and serious former Watcher, and Buffy had hard time not giggling at the sight.

"So, what was the flashback?" Buffy was incredibly curious as to what could make Giles of all people have a goofy grin.

"Our wedding," he told her, not really focused yet.

Buffy sat down suddenly, and Willow winced at the thud her friend made as she landed on the floor.

"Wow." Buffy had not even noticed. "What was it like?"

"You were beautiful." Love shone from Giles' eyes.

"I was?"

Buffy's quiet, almost whispered, question shook Giles out of the remnants of his daze and he was disturbed to see tears in her eyes. He took her hand in his, much as he had in the flashback, and earnestly said, "Buffy, I'm sorry if this is upsetting. This whole mess-"

"I'm not upset about you remembering our wedding," the Slayer was quick to reassure him. "I'm sad because  **I**  can't remember it."

"I'm sorry," Giles repeated, and was about to say more when Willow interrupted.

"Guys, before you start guilt tripping each other about stuff, do you want to know what I found out?"

Buffy stood up, only now noticing the bruises forming on her butt where she sat down so suddenly, and gingerly took a seat on the sofa. "I'm listening."

"Good. Giles, are you going to go comatose again? No? Good. Alright, the spell is incredibly simple. Just a few herbs, water, heat them and drop something made of gold into the mixture. There's an incantation, 'cause a spell isn't a spell without one, but it's really easy. Even you could manage it Buffy. Not that you're simple, or easy or . . . this is not coming out right."

Willow paused to take a breath, and give herself time to remove her foot from her mouth.

"Anyway, I had a point here. It was a really good point. But now I can't remember it."

"Relax Will. It'll come to you."

"Ok. Oh! I've remembered. The spell is kind of a time release. You put the gold thing near the intended victims, within two hundred yards, and it activates six hours after the spell was begun. The memory loss is just a side-affect. Something about the brain not liking to be without its usual inhibitions and barriers so it tries to block out the memories. I'm getting off subject again. My point was that anyone could have done it. They don't even need to have planted the spell themselves."

After weeding out the important parts from Willow's ramble Giles said, "So this gives us no clearer idea about who was behind this or why they did it."

"Maybe not, but at least now you know why you acted the way you did." Willow decided that was enough hinting for one session. "Now, I'm hungry and it's Buffy's turn to cook. And I mean cook, not order in from the pizza place."

"How does Chinese sound?" Buffy asked hopefully.

Willow glared at her.

***

Buffy and Giles managed to avoid each other for the rest of the evening and the following morning. They both had a lot of work to catch up on after their recent absences and that was a perfect excuse. So Buffy found herself being bullied by Xander and Willow at lunch the following day. Xander was trying to cage some free food from the university canteen, which was only slightly worse than the old school canteen.

"You need to talk to him," Willow told her.

"She's right," Xander joined in. "He's not going to start it. After all, he's Giles. Not in a bad way, just in a reserved, British, not-wanting-to-talk-about-this-stuff way."

"But that's the problem. He's Giles," Buffy told him.

"I'm lost," Xander said.

"Well, what do you think of when you think of Giles?"

"I think you should just stop there. This can only go to a place of extreme badness for me."

"Xander, shut up." Buffy glared him into submission. "You think of tweed, tea and books, right? Ok, so do I. But now I also think of . . . other stuff."

"What stuff?" Willow asked, curious.

"How much he's willing to do for me, how often he's risked his life for me, and how cute he looks asleep, or, well, anytime."

Willow looked puzzled. "But, if you're thinking that way what's the problem?"

"What if he doesn't feel that way about me?"

Xander laughed at that.

"What's so funny? This is only my life and future we're talking about!"

"The idea that he isn't in love with you is funny," Xander eventually managed. "You guys did stuff I don't want to know about and got married, all while you were under a spell that makes you do everything you've always wanted to but were too afraid to. While it's a very disturbing thought for me, I should think that would tell you something."

He paused waiting for an answer but Buffy did not appear to be concentrating. "Such as that he's in love with you. Completely. Am I talking to a brick wall here?"

Willow had also noticed. "I think she's having a flashback. That's the way Giles looked yesterday."

"I'm probably not going to want to know what it's about, am I?"

_** Buffy could not believe how hungry she was. < Although I did some vigorous . . . exercise on an empty stomach >. She grinned wickedly._

_"What are you thinking about, love?" Giles asked her as he saw the grin._

_"You."_

_He blushed._

_"Do you have any idea how cute you look when you do that?"_

_"N-no, I, uh, no."_

_"Great stuttering." Buffy was enjoying teasing him. "I want to make you stutter everyday, for the rest of my life. That really sounded better in my head."_

_He smiled softly at her, his eyes full of love. "I can't imagine life without you."_

_"Why don't we make it official then?"_

_"Pardon?"_

_Buffy abandoned her breakfast and went round the table to sit in his lap. She put arms around his neck and kissed him. He pulled her close and rubbed her back through his the shirt she had 'borrowed' from him earlier. Eventually she pulled back and said, "Marry me?"_

_"I thought I was supposed to ask?" Giles protested._

_"Since when have we obeyed the handbook? I want to be with you, I love you and I can't see any reason not to be married. So, will you?"_

_"When you put it like that . . ." He kissed her soundly to show her how much he liked the idea._

_They were both breathing heavily when they parted and Giles ran his hands under the shirt on the bare skin of her back._

_"When did you have in mind?" he asked as he kissed his way down her neck._

_"How soon can we arrange something?" Buffy asked, tilting her head to give him better access._

_"Well, there are licenses and your country insists on blood tests-"_

_"Las Vegas doesn't," Buffy pointed out._

_Giles lifter his head to look in her eyes. "Are you sure? We can wait, have a ceremony with your friends, family . . ."_

_"Have everyone try to talk us out of it, huge long preparations and wind up not being together for months. Our life isn't predictable enough for that. We know how we feel and that's all that matters."_

_"I love you," he told her and kissed her._

_A few minutes later Buffy commented, "Half an hour isn't going to make much difference though."_

_"Or an hour."_

_"Mmmm, an hour and a half would give us time for a shower as well."_

_"Sounds good."_

_They grinned at each other, proud of their plans, and Buffy reached for the snap of his jeans at the same time as he began unbuttoning the shirt . . . **_

As suddenly as the flashback began she was back in the college canteen. Willow and Xander were talking quietly, although from what she could tell it was one of their nonsense conversations.

"I hate it when that happens," Buffy grumbled.

"You hate your flashbacks? I thought you enjoyed them," Willow exclaimed.

"I do. I just hate it when they end before I get to the good stuff."

"I did  **not**  need to know that." Xander told her.

Buffy did not hear him. She was busy removing the necklace she was wearing and taking the gold ring off it. For a moment she stared at it, then she completed the decision she had made and slipped it onto her finger. Then she stood up.

"Buffy? Where are you going?" Willow asked.

"To seduce my husband."

"Would it he easier if I just went deaf?" Xander mused.

"But-but-but college!" Willow protested.

"This is more important. And hopefully more fun."

"If you're sure . . ."

"Completely."

Willow stood and hugged her. "Top drawer of my nightstand," she whispered in Buffy's ear. "Take as many as you need. I'll keep Xander out of the way, although I put sound-proofing spells on all the bedroom wall so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Willow!" Buffy hissed, surprised. "You are devious."

"I know," Willow said smugly.

***

Buffy had been quite disappointed to find the house empty when she arrived. She had been so happy and fired up from making her decision that she had not even thought about the fact that Giles had to work.  _Gives me time to prepare,_  she thought philosophically.

First she borrowed a condom from Willow's stash in her nightstand. Then she went back and took three more. "Well, you never know," she justified to the thin air.

Giles was a man of habit and she knew the first thing he would do when he got home would be to get changed. So she dug out all the candles in the house and positioned them around his bedroom. She didn't own a sexy nightgown so she went for the next best thing. One of Giles' shirts. Then she lay back on the bed to wait for him.

***

It had been a long day and Giles was feeling the strain as he walked up the stairs towards his bedroom. The past few days had been the worst and at the same time the best of his life. He wanted nothing more than to spend the evening with a cup of tea and a dull book so he could try to forget what was happening.  _How do you forget that the woman you love more than anything in the world is . . . in my bed?_

For a moment he stood, unable to believe that Buffy was really lying curled up and asleep in the middle of his bed. As his brain began functioning again he noticed other things. Such as the candles burning on every surface and the fact that his Slayer was wearing his shirt.  _And only my shirt? Stop that. Thinking like that is not going to help the situation._  It was too late though and his body had already reacted to the thought. He sat down on the edge of the bed and hoped she would not notice.

The mattress shifting beneath her as Giles sat woke Buffy and she smiled up at him sleepily. "Sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep. I was waiting for you."

"For me?"

Buffy grinned and sat up. "I'm hardly waiting for Xander here am I?"

"You aren't?"

"No. I don't want to seduce Xander."

"S-seduce?"

"There's an echo in here. Are you ok? You look kind of feverish?"

She moved to lay her hand on his forehead and he quickly stood up. "The question should be are you feeling alright," Giles said. "You're behaving very strangely. Maybe it's a side-affect of that spell."

"I'm sure it is. It's called 'I love you'. Wow, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be." Buffy smiled up at him. "I love you. I'm your wife and I love you and I don't want things to be any different."

Giles sat down on the bed again, surprised beyond anything at her words. He loved her, but in spite of everything that had happened he had never dared hope that she could feel the same way. As his brain restarted all the reasons why this was not a good idea surfaced.

The blonde Slayer read his expression perfectly. "Whatever you've thought of, it doesn't matter. Do you know what I remembered today? I remembered proposing to you. Everything was so clear at that moment. I love you, you love me, and therefore we should be together. Wanna know something else? I feel the same way now. I've loved you for a long time. I just put up all these barriers so I couldn't see it; our ages, Angel, our friends reactions, my mom, your tweed thing. It took a spell to make me see beyond all that to my real feelings. I love everything about you and I can't imagine my life without you. The only reason I can see for us not being together is if you can honestly look me in the eye and say you don't love me." Buffy paused. "That was a lot longer than I intended."

For a long moment Giles was still, thinking. "It would be unfair to you to-"

"Giles, our ages don't matter. You're actually more likely to outlive me than the other way around."

"Buffy-"

"It's ok. I know I'm lucky to have lived this long, and that's at least partly due to you." She smiled at him, willing him to admit how he felt.

"You're mother-"

"Will come around eventually." Buffy told him. "It's how you feel that's important."

Giles turned his head so she could not see his face, but she took it between her hands and forced him to look at her, staring into his green eyes. "Do you love me?"

"I-I . . . I can't help my self," he finally admitted.

"Do you love me?" his Slayer repeated.

"Yes."

"Do you want to be with me?"

"Always."

"Good."

She kissed him and gently pulled him down to the bed.

***

Much, much later a happy, satisfied husband and wife wandered down the stairs. She was dressed again in the shirt and he wore jeans and bare feet. On the mat in front of the front door lay a piece of paper and Giles picked it up as Buffy walked past him to the kitchen. He read it and then followed her into the kitchen where she was making sandwiches for them.

"Read this, love, and tell me what you think," he told her and bit into the sandwich she handed him.

> 'Buffy and Rupert,
> 
> By now I'm sure you know what happened and how. My employee was instructed not to give this to you until a certain stage was reached, so I want to wish you good luck in your life together.
> 
> I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience I caused you. A blind man could see how you feel so I thought you could do with some help. I'm sure you would have got here anyway, but after the mess with Angel I felt I owed you something. You might say I'm evening up the balance again.
> 
> Take care of each other,
> 
> Whistler.'

"He was the demon you told me about?" Giles inquired.

"Yeah. Bad dress sense and a habit of going through other people's cupboards." Buffy wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up into the face she loved. "Remind me to thank him before I hit him."

"If you ever see him again."

"I hope I don't. Giles? What's with the pensive face?"

"I was just wondering who his 'employee' is."

"Giles, stop wondering and pay attention to the important things." Buffy grinned at him and placed a kiss in the centre of his chest.

"You could call me Rupert."

"I'm working up to it." She placed another kiss on his bare chest. "Right now I'm working on more important things."

"I thought you were hungry."

Buffy remembered the food and released him. "I am!"

Giles grabbed the plate of sandwiches before she could and ran for the stairs.

"Cheat!" she shouted and ran after him.

***

A black De Soto roared out of Sunnydale via the Welcome sign. Its occupant had the radio turned up as loud as it would go and was singing to it, badly. The window opened and a gold pendant flew out to land on the verge.

"That is the last time I play poker with a bloody demon with a daft name," the bleach blond vampire muttered to himself. "And I'm never playing for favours again. If I don't have the money I'll leave."

He drove on for a moment. "At least I get to tell the Great Poofini what happened. There's a bright spot to everything."

The car continued on the road to LA, breaking speed limits and noise pollution laws as it went.


End file.
